CHHATTISGARH
Chhattisgarh assembly unanimously adopts bills to hike quota to 76%
The Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha on Friday unanimously adopted two bills to raise overall reservation in jobs and admissions in educational institutions to 76% by providing 32% quota for Scheduled Tribes (ST), 13% for Scheduled Castes (SC), 27 % for OBCs and 4% for economically weaker sections (EWS).
Piloting the Chhattisgarh Public Service SC/ST/OBC Reservation (Amendment) Bill-2022 and Chhattisgarh Educational Institutions Reservation in admissions (Amendment) Bill-2002, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said the provisions of reservation, which were prevailing earlier, were affected after the high court declared them as unconstitutional. Due to this, he said, appointments of SC/ST/OBC in government service and jobs are being affected at present.
Another important provision in the bill is for reservation on the basis of population ratio in class-three and class-four posts at divisional and district levels. As per the bill, SCs and STs will get reservation on the basis of their population ratio while OBCs will be entitled to a maximum quota of 27%. Even for EWS categories belonging to non-SC/ST/OBCs, reservation at district and divisional level in class-three and class-four posts will be on the basis of their population ratio but won’t exceed 10%.
The bill for reservation in educational institutions envisages similar provisions for reservation for SC, ST and OBC in admissions and for a 4% quota for EWS.
The impasse over reservation in Chhattisgarh began in September when the high court set aside a 2012 state government decision to increase overall reservation to 58%. The HC had held that any reservation above 50% is unconstitutional. This came as a setback to the ST community, who took to the streets in protests as the ST reservation had dwindled to 20% from 32%. Besides, SC reservation had increased to 16% and OBC quota remained at 14% as it was prevailing during undivided madhya pradesh.
INTERNATIONAL
Spain passes new transgender law, anyone above 16 can change their gender
Spain passes new transgender law: The lower house of the Spanish Parliament approved a measure allowing individuals over the age of 16 to change their legally recorded gender without the need for medical supervision. According to the law, drafted by the center-left coalition government, minors between the ages of 14 and 16 must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians and those between the ages of 12 and 13 will require a judge’s permission to make the move.
The law also abolishes a restriction that banned lesbian couples from registering their children under both parents’ names and forbids the use of so-called conversion therapies to repress sexual orientation or gender identity.
Up until recently, transgender individuals required the diagnosis of gender dysphoria, a psychological disorder in which the patient does not feel that their biological sex matches their gender identity.
UAE to Host the 13th WTO Ministerial Meeting in 2024
The next World Trade Organization ministerial conference will be held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in February 2024, the global trade watchdog confirmed in a statement. The UAE and Cameroon were both vying to host the event and came to an informal agreement for Abu Dhabi to host the first one and Cameroon to do the next
For the UAE, hosting the meeting is part of its own push to position itself as a global hub for business amid growing competition in the Middle East. It has been rolling out bilateral trade deals with fast-growing markets since the pandemic. Next year the Gulf Arab state will host COP28, the UN’s Climate Change conference.
New Zealand govt passes world’s first tobacco law to ban smoking
The New Zealand government has passed a law to completely end tobacco smoking by banning youth from buying cigarettes for life. The Smoke Free Environments and Regulated Products (Smoking Tobacco) Amendment Bill has been passed in New Zealand which aims to make New Zealand smoke free by 2025.
The bill aims to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone born after January 1, 2009, and reduce the number of cigarette retailers in the country. The bill has received bipartisan support in New Zealand’s parliament and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also plans to reduce the amount of nicotine allowed in smokeless tobacco products. Passage of the bill would reduce the number of tobacco retailers nationwide to about one-tenth of the current number of 6,000.
NATIONAL
Rajya Sabha’s productivity during the winter session recorded at 102%
Rajya Sabha’s productivity during winter session 102%: The final day of the winter session, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die, with a productivity score of 102%. Jagdeep Dhankhar, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, claims that in 13 sittings, functional time was 64 hours and 50 minutes as opposed to the entire allocated time of 63 hours and 26 minutes, and productivity was 102%.
1,920 unstarred questions were answered in the 13 sittings, while 82 starred questions were resolved.
After 28 hours of debate in which 160 members participated, nine bills were ultimately passed or returned during the session.
Although the term “House of Elders” is not listed in the official lexicon, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar had noted in my opening address on December 7 that it adequately captured the significance of this institution.
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